#SayFeels! with Scott and Ava from Midnights in Bali by Carla de Guzman

Ava Bonifacio has always been the girl with The Plan—a life plan that would give her everything she’s ever wanted, including becoming a lawyer, a role she was sure she was born into. Sure, her determination may be seen as heartlessness, but Ava doesn’t care. What she does care about is getting into law school—but she doesn’t. She cares about her boyfriend Matteo—who breaks up with her.

In an act of desperation, Ava books herself a ticket to Bali and tries to get over her own failures. In Bali she meets Scott McLeod, a rude and grumpy Scottish traveler who thinks there’s a lot more to Ava than meets the eye.

But as Ava reveals more about herself, she finds Scott slowly pulling away from her. He was never part of The Plan, but Ava is determined to make sure he doesn’t slip away.

This is an excerpt from the very first draft of Midnights in Bali, written in May 2015 for the #SparkNA workshop. Initially the story featured two very, ahem, steamy scenes between Scott and Ava. One on Ava’s first night in Bali, and the other after they visit Taman Ayun temple. I decided to cut down on the steamy scenes for the published edition of the book, only because these were the first scenes I wrote ever and wasn’t as comfortable yet. This is the steamy version of the Taman Ayun scene for you to enjoy! Happy Valentine’s day!

E X C E R P T

They were back at the hotel in no time, and after saying goodbye to Wayan and agreeing to meet him early the next day, Scott and Ava found themselves standing in the driveway and really looking at each other.

She couldn’t believe that this was happening to her. Standing there with Scott felt right, different from the way she felt when she was with Matteo. While her ex felt like a part of a grand plan, Scott was more than that. In a matter of hours, he became her anchor, keeping her steady, keeping her whole. He let her be herself, and forced his way past her anal retentive barriers. Nobody had ever really done that, not for her.

“You still have kalachuchi flowers in your ears,” she informed him, reaching up to take the plumerias from his ears, but Scott stopped her hand.

“Leave ‘em,” he said, lacing his fingers through the hand he’d stopped. “They smell nice. You should wear your hair like that for the party.”

“Maybe,” Ava shrugged noncommittally. She felt like she needed to move, to do something, but couldn’t stand being away from Scott for too long. When did she become so reliant on him? He had been slowly pulling away from her, staying quiet in the car, ignoring Ava when she purposefully tried to annoy him by being her rigid, tight-ass self—but even her insistence on looking for a bathroom that wasn’t just a hole in the ground didn’t illicit a reaction from him.

Ava wasn’t going to let him go so easily. This time she was going to fight for him. She tugged on Scott’s hand and tiptoed up to him, pulling at the nape of his neck as she gave him a deep kiss. The force blew her away and she gasped when they parted. Scott actually grinned, the corners of his eyes crinkling as he licked the bottom of his slightly swollen lip. He was back again, and her heart thumped erratically in her chest with the way he looked at her.

“Look at you,” he said, running a hand up and down the sides of her arm. “Who knew you had a bit of Scottish in you, eh?”

“What can I say,” Ava sighed. “You bring it out in me.”

Scott’s low laugh was halted by Ava’s lips touching his again. She wanted to do this without desperation or force, she wanted to do this like it meant something. She parted her lips slightly, and his tongue slipped inside her mouth, coaxing her lips farther apart. His hands skidded across her waist and back, his deft fingers traced the line of Ava’s spine and making her shiver.

Things became a lot more heated as they walked to their villa. Ava found herself pushing Scott against columns just to run her tongue against his lower lip, and again just to skim her fingers underneath his shirt. She smiled in satisfaction when she felt his firm muscles twitch and shiver, his cock twitched as she raked her fingernails lightly over the front of his shorts.

The whole place was in chaos, staff members running around holding buckets of flowers and piles of cloth for the wedding. They still managed to smile and greet the couple as they passed, Scott making sure he was standing behind Ava as she gave them a breezy smile and a wave.

“Have I told your laugh drives me fucking bonkers?” Scott asks, whispering into the shell of her ear as she struggled with the keys to the double doors. She laughed as he kissed the side of her neck, nibbling at her earlobe, stumbling forward as she managed to open the doors to her room. “It gets me every time.”

“Heartless bitches like me never laugh,” She informed him, walking backwards as Scott caught her in his arms, planting deep, hungry kisses on her lips, her jaw, her neck, her throat, lower and lower until his mouth met the top of her bra. His laugh rumbled against her skin as he pressed his face to her neck, making her sigh.

“Oh love, you are anything but heartless,” he managed to say, preoccupied with sucking the skin on Ava’s chest, just over her heart. Scott pulled back to admire his handiwork, but Ava had no time for that.

She pulled his shirt up and Scott threw it aside, and he dove for her top as well, reveling in the feel of her bare skin under his hands. She wanted to splay her hands all over his chest, to feel his taut muscles against hers. He twisted her hips and Ava turned, her back faced him and traced the straps of her bra with his fingers before snapping her bra off in one smooth motion. He tossed the garment off to the side.

“I’m not even going to ask how you can do that so fast,” Ava commented, dropping her head backwards as Scott murmured into the side of her neck with words only he could hear.

“And how shall I take you, Ava?” He asked, his words made her shiver. Scott’s hand snaked over her bare chest, tracing a line right between her breasts. Ava was sure he was going to kill her with his maddeningly light fingers. Her nipples stood in attention as he tweaked and touched them with his rough fingers. “Tell me how you want me.”

He was a giant, a tall, muscled giant who could easily take her on. Ava turned her head to the side, grabbing a fistful of Scott’s hair as she moaned against his ear. She wasn’t going to hold back this time, not for him, not for anybody.
She used her free hand to guide his hands low, past the waistband of her shorts and to the spot where she desperately wanted him to be. She was dizzy and so buzzed with anticipation. Her desire for him shocked her, but she wasn’t going to let him slip away that easily.

“I’ll take the high road,” she said into his ear. Scott’s fingers found her clit, pulling her back to the moment with him as he opened her up. Ava aligned her body against his and pushed back, making Scott groan.

“I’ll take the low road,” Scott drawled and he bent down to kiss her neck. He bit into her shoulder, and Ava hips jerked forward, making her gasp as his fingers slid deeper into her. Scott withdrew his hand before she could stop him and slid her shorts and her underwear down her waist.

“Don’t stop now,” she told him, trying to grasp at his hands. He chuckled.

“You’re beautiful,” he murmured into her ear, spinning her around again to crush his lips against hers. “I wish we could stay like this forever.”

But his words were forgotten as Scott bent forward and traced his hands down her back, a light sheen of sweat already formed on her skin. He lifted her legs to wrap around his waist in a smooth motion, falling backward in the bed together. Ava could smell the heady scent of kalachuchi as she raised herself above him. His eyes sparkled, and his scar stood out proudly against his skin. Ava took a moment to run her fingers over it as Scott fumbled with a condom.

“Ready!” He announced, making Ava giggle. “Give me your worst, love.”

Scott actually growled when Ava lowered herself to his chest, her bare breasts pressed on his scar. The angle helped Scott go even deeper, and she whispered a curse word that made Scott laugh. She felt him twitch inside of her as their hips continued to move together. Ava had one last moment of control, placing a sloppy kiss over his scar before she finally felt her entire body just let go.

“Great Scott!” Ava laughed, falling from the brink of her orgasm, making Scott’s hips jerk out of rhythm for one moment as he lost concentration, and her laugh followed him as he orgasmed too.

***
Ava sat bolt upright in bed. Her hair was a mess, there were discarded flower petals on the sheets, and the air was heavy with the smell of sex, sweat and flowers. Scott was nowhere to be seen, and she’d done it again. She wondered briefly why she felt a lot less guilty now that she did before.

In the past, sex was just something she did. She wasn’t particularly good, and didn’t quite understand what all the fuss was about. But now she understood. With the right person, the right moment, it became something something fun, something to fuss over and to enjoy.

“Did I really just say ‘great scott?” She asked out loud, laughing again as she buried her face into the pillows.

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Hi! I am April and I write to remember. I love sunny days, sound of salt water waves, and the feel of sand beneath my feet. I am in love with beautiful words, letters (snail mail, the alphabet), gold inks and red lipsticks. High heels, too. I invest my time educating the next generation hopefuls in a public high school, learning, reading and writing, with a few shopping in between, then blogging about them after in that order.

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Hi! We are April, Jellie, Kcee and Sheryl and we are The Reading Belles! We love reading romance fiction with swoony men paired with strong women. Yes, we too just like you, love the perfect blend of drama and comedy topped with a dash or a mouthful of risqué!

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